We also discussed creating a list of great games (tabletop and videogames) for teen programming. The list has been started on the YALSA wiki; please feel free to contribute annotations.

On Sunday morning, I counted over 125 at our Sunday Morning program, Beyond Gaming Tournaments. Slides and handouts are forthcoming at:

http://presentations.ala.org/index.php?title=Beyond_Gaming_Tournaments

Craig Davis from Youth Digital Art CyberSchool shared ways to get kids creating, using professional design tools to make digital art, music and games. There were oohs and ahhs at the Madplayer he demonstrated, which allows for intuitive music compositions and sound editing through listening, so anyone can do it. They have been discontinued, and probably hard to get; try eBay, or register for YDACS classes. Due to some sound glitches, we couldn’t hear the demo of multiple tracks being played in Cakewalk, but could see the notes being played, as the software is highly visual, and were impressed by the drag and drop composition editing.

Craig showed 2 games created by students; check out more YDACS games at http://www.dev-lcg.com/cyberschool/mod/resource/view.php?id=462

1. The Durham Library game, which features a red dot character ( a Dewey decimal? suggested an audience member) doing a walkthrough of the library. The backgrounds are all photos; game design elements make it interactive, and many of the library’s features are clickable to deliver information about books, magazines, spaces, etc.
2. Revolution is a MMOG that YDACS will be selling for $5 a digital copy. The student who made it will get 50% of the profit. YDACS not only teaches 21st century literacy skills, it teaches entrepeneurial skills as well.

Elizabeth Saxton from the Cleveland Public Library transitioned us from high tech to low tech, sharing ideas for programs about and around gaming that are JUST like other more traditional library programs for teens, encouraging literacy and library use.

• Promote gaming reading material. A list of Books for Gamers is on the ALA Gaming Resource Wiki already, please feel free to contribute.
• Conduct a Gaming Discussion Group — just like book discussion! The program could be themed (adventure games, puzzle games, simulation games, online games, Worst Game Ever), center around a single popular game (Runescape! Spore! Grand Theft Auto!) or focus on games teens are playing now, or even anticipating as future releases (Guitar Hero 4! Spore!)
• Create a Gaming Advisory Board — just like TAB, but not necessarily with your TAB members. Gaming might attract a whole different set of teens. The GAB can create content for you: ‘zines, podcasts, reviews, lists of great games, and displays. Plus, you can harness their expertise to advise on programs and collection development, etc.
• Host a gaming career program! Gamasutra may be a good resource for finding local game design students. Augment with titles from your career books

Amy McNally from the Hennepin County Library brought two teens, Karina & Brigit, with her to talk about the anime/gaming connection. Having real live teens participate was awesome! They did a fabulous job explaining cosplay (it’s not just dressing up! It’s also about being in character) and the programs at their library. There are game spinoffs of anime shows (.hack sign), games stylized to have an anime look (Final Fantasy) and anime or comic versions of games that can be tapped (Pokemon). Some activity ideas:

• Offer a sewing club. Teens can swap expertise and share sewing know-how. The Hennepin Library provides a sewing machine and sewing notions for it’s Sewing Club.
• Have your Anime club meet at a local convention.
• Host an Anime Prom, where everyone comes in costume and in character. Activities at prom can include gaming events, costume contest, a dance off, anime showings, and random battles (no costume required! pair characters against one another - challenge is to “defeat” your opponent using a signature move. Attack and/or die in character!)

All three topics could have been a program unto themselves. Our panel presentation concluded with a raffle (congrats to all the winners of t-shirts and software from YDACS and schwag from Red Octane, creators of Guitar Hero). Red Octane will send stuff for your library events if you email a request for prizes.

Craig demoed the MadPlayer and let folks try YDACS games; Elizabeth led a worldbuilding exercise, a game designed hosted several sessions of LetterJam. Teens led a dance off to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya and random battles. Gaming magazines were available for browsing. A reader’s advisory activity was provided; results are online at http://gaming.ala.org/resources/index.php?title=Books_for_Gamers

On a personal note, thanks to SOCIAL NETWORKING I was able to track down the owner of the missing blue diary, left at our program! It’s on it’s way home

I work in one of the oldest branches of my system. The teen space has one long table dominated by laptop users. Luckily we have a significant chunk of shelving, but the books aren’t new and shiny. In fact, everything is old, uncomfortable, and stained. The only thing that makes the teen area a teen area is the fact that it says “Teen” on the wall. Cuz there aren’t any teens sitting there. They’ll go anywhere else in the library to hang out, but do not want to be in the teen space at all. As the incoming teen librarian at this branch it is *the* major thing I need to fix.

So the President’s Program got me at just the right time. Titled “The Teen Third Space,” the session covered physical space, seating selection, and the electronic third space.

The idea of third space comes from Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place. He argued that this third place between work and home has to be a social environment that contains some element of community building. For teens that could be a library’s teen space.

Kimberly Bolan spoke first. Her presentation showed a lot of pictures of teen space renovations on small, large, and practically nonexistent budgets. Her book, Teen Spaces: The step-by-step library makeover is going to be updated soon, so I really look forward to seeing more pictures there and reading more about the research that she has used to modernize many libraries’ teen spaces. Some of the statistics that Bolan was showing were amazing. She said that by revolutionizing the teen space, many of her test cases were reporting an increase in circulation by 50-300%! By inspiring teens with images and photographs of what *can* be done in the teen space, teen councils out there can really help library administration understand what kinds of furniture and designs should be placed in these spaces. You can look for a lot more information on Bolan’s blog.

The second speaker, Professor Anthony Bernier, talked specifically about seating in teen spaces and how libraries have been getting it wrong. By assuming what teens want, libraries have been throwing bean bags and other supposed “teen friendly” furniture a corner and calling it the teen space. Instead, Bernier argues, it would be better to actually ASK the teens what they would like to see. He also encourages libraries to follow four basic rules for arranging their seating for teens:

1. Maximize the options at our disposal.
2. Mix and don’t match.
3. Offer movement in furniture. (Don’t think that everything has to stay in the same place all the time and think about swiveling furniture and rocking furniture!)
4. Explore the floor with carpeting, funky furniture and platforms.

The best point, for me, that Bernier made was actually a very simple one. Libraries should move away from privileging the collection to privileging the social experience that libraries can support. Collections should be used to support social interaction.

The third and final speaker, Angela Sigg, discussed the virtual third space and the Denver Public Library’s place within it. Since teens don’t remember life before the Internet, it is only appropriate to think of a library’s website as an extension of the library’s physical space. Sigg offered several ideas for making the website a teen’s virtual third space including:

1. Brainstorm with teens — the space is for them, ask them what they want.
2. Get feedback from staff. Consider setting up a wiki to show mockups of the site.
3. Look at other teen library websites for inspiration
4. Think about ways to bring teens back with fresh content. Denver Public Library has integrated podcasting and podcasting workshops, youtube contests, original teen art, and teen reviews (their most popular feature).

Sigg said there are several pitfalls to avoid in building your website as well. So if you want to do one, keep these in mind. They include:

1. Too much text. Teens don’t want their third space to feel too much like being in school.
2. Being boring. It’s the kiss of death.
3. Trying to talk like teens. It just won’t work.
4. Not continually offering new content. Commit to keeping it fresh so teens have a reason to return often.
5. Not listening to what teens think. It’s their site, they should like it!

For me, it was great to hear other librarians talk about the next evolution in teen space.  It’s been too long that we’ve been happy just because we have more than five shelves for teen materials. By thinking about the library as a teen’s third space, we can move into a position that allows teens to get what they deserve without having to beg, borrow and steal from other areas of the library!

At the GOT TWEENS AND TEENS? preconference, both Jon Scieszka and Bruce Hale confirmed what I already knew about boys and books. Conversations with participants proved that we all do recall traumatic, tragic, and joyous events from those early years. Discussions with colleagues from the Odyssey Committee verified that audio is alive and well, especially at ALA.

Conference in not only the time and opportunity to score books, it is a time for sharing information with friends and colleagues, for attending informative sessions, for side conversations that blossom into ideas for new postings, and so much more.

Thanks to all the YALSA staff for their planning and preparation. The conference ran smoothly because of their hard work. It is time to fill out those Volunteer Forms, folks. Come and work with YALSA as we continue to help tweens and teens find the books that will impact their lives.

Posted by Teri Lesesne

Meemix has mashed up its music recommendation engine with Youtube to provide a personalized channel of music videos. Simply type the name of an artist or song in the tab, wait for the player to load, then click the “video mode” button. Voila! Meemix will provide you with a tailor-made stream of videos based on your interest, which you can tweak with the usual “add to favorites” and “block this video” controls.

A new Internet start-up, Jogli, is offering itself as the “Google for music.” It works by crawling a number of databases (mainly Youtube) to find songs and then adds them to its enormous database of streaming music (it purports 500 million songs from 12 million albums). Users can add songs to a playlist, for instant access to their song library anywhere the Web is available. Here’s a tour through the site from the amazing resource to all things web 2.0, Demo Girl:

You may notice one recurring theme throughout these resources: they take advantage of Youtube’s API to deliver dynamic streaming content to its users. What if your library cross-referenced its catalog against Youtube videos? Item records for movies could feature trailers. Records for CDs could feature music videos. Books could cross-reference any book trailers or book talks posted to the web. Honestly, I didn’t think of this possibility until just now and will definitely be taking this idea up the chain.

~Joseph Wilk
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Teen

Andrew K. Pace defined mashup as something remixed to improve functionality and innovation as response to change under circumstance “hacking!”  He stressed that change is inevitable, and quoted Darwin reminding us that the successful species are the most adaptable ones. Pace referenced the 10 Dangerous Ideas presentation from PLA presentation , and invited attendees to jot down on notecards provided, their greatest resource and greatest challenge as we continued our discussion of innovation.

“Mashups are about interoperabilty”
~Michael Schrage, author
Michael Schrage, author of Serious Play was the keynote speaker, on the topic of Mixing it Up: the Mashed up Library. Did you know that every year, mobile phone companies add new features, but fewer than 10% of the clients use more than HALF the functionality of the phone. “That’s not innovation,” said Michael, “that’s waste.” Library application? Let’s do things that our users will take advantage of, use and engage with!  innovation is the conversation of novelty into value; to whom and for whom are key questions. Libraries may be innovating, but we aren’t doing a good job of marketing it. Since the the users of the novelty are what make it innovative, let your users tell you what you are doing that is innovative. Libraries need to move from creation of choice to value of use. He pointed out that if your users don’t know what you are doing, there is no point to saying,  “we do that already.”

The intelligence of your organization may be holding you back! Michael said that intelligence is (wildly) overrated as a virtue. (which was the original guiding principle for the Internet).

We need to ask ourselves, “What should our most important products be, and how will we get there — what innovative and inspirational tools will we use?” People are always the most important resource (the most important part of the network is the networker; the most important product of the library is the librarian…etc)

Competition is about perceived value from choice. We may a monopoly on the box of books model, but information access is THE most competitive industry in the world. How do our users/community brand us as a competitor?

Some great tips that we can apply to YA librarianship:

• Learn from your lead users. Who are they and how do you know? They will give you your best ideas and feedback. Forget about market segments. A youth participation model fits well with learning from lead users.
• Decide with whom you want to collaborate to create value. Pockets to be picked and expertise to be exploited does not equal sustained or meaningful relationships.
• Marketing your best internal arguments/disagreements — transparency is good! Make you user community a part of the solution for what your library can acheive (this brings Ann Arbor’s blog and posts about their parking situation to mind)
• Establish “Libretories” that attract talent and inspire hypothesis. (sounds like BETA testing!)
• Remember that success comes NOT from taking the path of least resistance but from taking the path of maximum advantage.

One thing that stuck with me through Michael’s Q&A: How does a library get better every time it’s used? Marginalia - through allowing - encouraging - FORCING - users to leave their imprint (through tagging, commenting, friending, posting user created content, etc).

After an ice-cream break, three librarians talked about mashups in their library.

“Librarians need to be comfortable with Web 2.0 products and services. Not just people like me who present, but EVERYONE.”
~David Lee King, Topeka-Shawnee Library

David Lee King shared the TS Digital Branch Library , which features feeds, links from book to restaurant reviews, IM via meebo–including IM from the card catalog, when the search returns 0 results). It’s become a new door to reference where there used to be a dead end. They’ve used Google maps and labeled bookmobile stops. They even integrate physical mashup -i.e., moving the travel section and creating a companion TRAVEL section on blog.

Patron comments are on on most webpages, and the library has created accounts with MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube so that patrons can start conversations with us at any of those places. The library’s page hosts user created content, like teen poetry,  “‘Cause I said so!” essays by teens, and short films that are the product of a claymation workshop. The films are stored on youtube and embedded on library site.

David recommends finding out about conversations people are having ABOUT the library. It’s easy to set up vanity feeds from Technorati, Google, or Twitter so you can RESPOND to issues people in your community are raising on their blogs or on twitter. He also advises getting out of the building to bring the library to the people. David concluded that we need to shift our thinking: the computer is no longer just a piece of machinery, it’s a way to connect people.

“One challenge of Library Legislative Day is to get their attention in a 5 minute meeting.”
~Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran, University of Minnesota
Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran has done a lot of map mashups. One project grew out of a traveling banner and journal heading to nearly 40 libraries. Pins on free google map marked locations and had library info and links to the webpages of libraries that had them.  Mary Beth created READ posters with ALA’s READ CD software for each legislator, that was also useful for patrons and campaign managers. This is an idea that could be extrapolated to local city council members, chamber of commerce members, school teachers…She used MapBuilder to show legislator’s jurisdiction. Info window brought up photo and link to each library in the legislators jurisdiction. Offers to add new photos to the mashup were seized immediately.

” Librarians have been taking data form various places and putting it together to make something more valuable than the sum of its parts for years.”
~Susan Gibbons, University of Rochester

As the University of Rochester was building a library website, part of the process was a survey of student  and faculty expectations of the website - turned out, they didn’t just want library info, they want student life info, so the ability to  package pieces of library website and dropped into virtual life like facebook & IM is important.

Susan Gibbons told us how the library staff created course guides, not subject guide branded to fit students mental model: title,  professor, course code & time, semester. One feature of the pages is that there is a picture and contact information of a specific librarian is on the page, and each has a title that fits a course (ie, Italian studies librarian, not Foreign Languages); some have multiple titles

Susan said the library also has been mashing up people, through cross-training, by teaching writing advisories and libraries how to recognize the difference between a writing problem and a research problem. A second mashup coming: librarians invited to be student advisors to freshman/sophomore experience. Result? The librarian is now most valuable staff on campus.

Q&A for the presenters followed. Librarians remain concerned about security, privacy and time management.

How do we feel about opening up our data to other people to mash up?  RSS feeds allow that to some extent - plugging into readers and websites.

Who made the mashups? What kind of training is involved?  Anyone can make mashups! Web services librarians did it, directors did it, catalogers did it. It’s not hard!  Meebo, an IM software that you can integrate into ANY webpage, makes it easy! Pick your options and it creates code for you to copy and paste. Michael advised up to be sensitive to problems associated with success.

How do we alleviate backlog? You can’t stop cataloging to play with Google maps when you are three weeks behind. Responses: The director played with Google maps in one afternoon and sent to the IT guys said “please do!” and they put it on the web. Mary Beth admits, “it wasn’t part of my official job responsibility…” but really, it’s about serving patrons which IS part of her job responsibility. David empowers staff to explore interests -  the cataloging still gets done. Mary Beth pointed out that repositioning people to play to their expertise is key.  And David posted a great followup on his blog.

One interesting reply was that a well designed website can answer a lot of reference questions, and free up time. Collection development has changed, with approval and standing order plans. Cataloging can be outsourced.  All of this frees up public services librarians to do other things. Not so, says one attendee.
LC is looking for help from academic community to catalog.  Public libraries are seeing increased questions, not decreased. Public staff doesn’t have time for this.

We can also use volunteers and library tech staff to answer 10-15% of the reference questions. (I know someone is tearing their hair out and screaming, UNION! right now…) This response made me think of the Tweet I saw from Erin Downey Howerton, that 95% of questions at Disney are answered by custodial staff. Non-MLS staff CAN answer directional questions.

I think, desk staff, no matter WHAT age group they are serving, needs to MAKE time for web 2.0 tools and mashups. There are probably things you can let go of or pass on that is less vital to serving your patrons. In fact, Susan recommended shifting priorities when a user indicates a need for a new service - but need must be proven first.

One final great question: Is moderating patron comments censorship? No. It’s editing There are other models of what’s appropriate from Amazon, etc, by forcing people to put their name on their comments. David doesn’t moderate - they have software that automatically remove naughty words though. Comments have to be specific, so that creates directed conversation. Another solution is to post policies like “be nice to each other, stay on topic, don’t be stupid”  This is what community managers on Facebook do. There are models to follow. And don’t forget about radical trust - the idea that people are basically good. They rise to your expectations… or fall to meet them, a lot depends on our attitudes.

In this audio you will hear:

• Bruce Coville - author and the “idea man” behind the naming of the Odyssey Award. Coville discusses the importance of audiobooks in the lives of children, teens, and families.
• Mary Burkey - Chair of the 2008 Odyssey Award Committee presents the honor awards. As a part of Mary’s presentation you’ll hear portions of each of the award winning titles.
• Arnie Cardillo - Live Oak Media publisher who accepts the Award for the winning audiobook, Jazz, provides an overview of what went into the production of the recording.
• Simon Vance - Booklist Audiobook Reader of the Year - Voice of Choice - Winner. Vance talks about life as an audiobook narrator and reads from Milne, London, and Dickens. (And if you listen to the end you’ll also hear about Dr. Who.)

You can:

• Listen
• Visit YALSA’s podcast page
• Subscribe to YALSA’s podcasts

To learn more about the award visit the YALSA web site. A full list of 2008 award winners is also available.

Unfortunately this was one presentation plagued by a few technical difficulties, so the fabulous Beth Gallaway (outgoing co-chair of the Teen Gaming Interest Group) had to step in a bit at the beginning to do some tap dancing while things were sorted out at the podium. Food for thought: how do you dial on your cellphone? If you grew up with home video gaming systems, there’s a good chance you dial (and text) with your thumb. But if you never got into console playing, you might just use your index finger, like you would have on a rotary or wall phone. (As with any discussions of digital natives/immigrants, there are of course exceptions, but I still thought it was an interesting starting point.)

First up was Craig Davis, president and founder of Youth Digital Arts Cyberschool, whose mission is to help kids from third grade through high school to “explore, create, and ultimately sell original digital art.” They believe any kid can create professional level digital art (which includes game design) immediately and become a young entrepreneur. You should check out the YDAC website–they’re doing some very cool stuff, including providing professional software to kids at significantly reduced costs. Craig also showed a couple of kid-created games, including one to demonstrate how libraries can easily create games highlighting their services and collections.

One point that I found particularly interesting: YDAC has used kids as young as eight as mentors (for teens and for adults!) virtually and in person. Craig said this:

State frameworks in this case are completely irrelevant. If a kid is intellectually ready for these things, feed them. If you create a place where they can do things and excel, you go with their strength … It used to be, in the computer industry, cost of production was always a limiter. Cost of production now is nil. Everyone should be doing unbelievable things. Our only limiter is knowledge.

Next up was Elizabeth Saxton, from Cleveland Public Library. Her goal was to go from very high tech to very low tech, to take traditional programs and remix them with gaming content to attract different audiences. Her presentation focused a lot on teen input for programming and finding ways to encourage reading and writing through a gaming lens. She also spoke a lot on world building and using sci-fi and fantasy writing as a guide. (One personal pet peeve: Star Trek does not use “teleporters.” They’re transporters.)

Last but not least, Amy McNally, teen services librarian at Ridgdale Library (part of the Hennepin County Library system), brought two fantastic teens–Karina Grimaldi and Brigit Boler–with her to talk about cosplay, anime, and gaming at the library. Their powerpoint is supposed to be online along with the other conference materials, but sadly I just tried to connect and got an error message.

Karina and Brigit did a lot of the talking, and they were really fabulous. You could tell they bring a lot of enthusiasm to programs like the Cosplay Sewing Club, Anime Prom & Midwinter Ball, and Random Battles. (Think Final Fantasy meets LARPing meets improv.) I’m really hoping their presentation gets successfully uploaded soon.

In the last couple of years, a new generation of digital camcorders has emerged, aimed at ease of use, point-and-shoot functionality, and uploading online. These simple, sub $200 devices offer a small set of controls and automatic features, allowing you to point, press record, and upload easily.

The most popular of this generation are the Flip Video cameras (pictured left), which have an almost iPod-like elegance to the design and fairly decent picture quality. You might also want to take a look at the RCA Small Wonder and Creative Vado, which are comparatively popular, as well as browse Amazon’s product pages (sorted low to high) for even further options.

When deciding to buy a camera, don’t buy on hype alone. Make sure you take a good look at the camera specs and search out additional reviews (try camcorderinfo.com or the customer reviews on ExpoTV) so that you can balance budget with features and ultimately make the purchase that is right for you.

• Resolution - resolution will affect how much detail will fit into the image. Higher numbers will produce higher quality images. You’ll either see it in terms of a dimension (e.g., 640 x 320) or a total pixel count (3.1 megapixels). Either way, bigger is better.
• Bitrate - the bitrate is how much information is crammed into each second and also affects video quality. Most cameras will rate this in megabits (Mbits). Again, a higher number leads to better quality video, though it will take up more space on a memory card or hard drive. Better cameras will let you choose.
• Light sensors - pay special attention to how the camera functions in different lighting conditions. Libraries aren’t known for their great lighting, so you’ll often be shooting in less than ideal circumstances (on a related note, see if you can point a few floor lamps at your subject).
• Memory and battery life - these go hand in hand, as they’re both going to dictate how long you can record. Do you anticipate ever recording scenes from a longer program, such as a wizard rock concert or author reading? If so, invest in larger memory and longer battery life. You also want to consider if the memory is internal, or if you have to purchase it separately (adding another cost to your library). You also want to think about whether the battery is internal. Because once the battery runs out of juice, it takes your whole device down with it.
• Multi-functionality - many of these cameras also function natively as a still camera or webcam (for live-broadcasting online). Others only let you take stills from the video, with exceptionally less quality. You can save money in the long-run by buying a more expensive unit that meets multiple needs.
• Integrated software - recording to memory saves lots of time by not making you have to capture video onto your computer and integrating with your favorite video site. But if your camera’s software is a bust (or if it doesn’t include software), you’ll waste just as much time trying to edit a simple movie or upload your videos. Pay attention to the quality of the software when reading over the review.
• Fold-out screen - if you’ll be recording yourself a lot, being able to see yourself will mean the difference between recording your entire face and getting a great shot of your chin. Make sure the LCD folds out!
• Simplicity - ultimately, you aren’t just making this purchase for you, but for other staff. What needs do they have from their device? Will more than three buttons make it unusable? You can still buy on a budget for more tech-minded staff, with the surprisingly powerful Aiptek A-HD 720P High Definition Camcorder, but definitely make sure you are polling coworkers on their comfort level (and don’t forget: training, training, training!).

You can turn budget cams into further budget by not shying away from refurbished models that you can sometimes find in the Amazon.com Warehouse Deals, Buy.com, Overstock.com, and each manufacturer’s own website. If consumerism hurts you like it hurts me, check to see if your area has a Freecycle list, in which people request and exchange unwanted goods. Somebody may be able to provide you with a digital camcorder in exchange for the tax write-off.

If you have any questions (including questions about purchasing a more complete solution on a larger budget), feel free to post a comment. You can also e-mail me or IM me at josephjwilk.

~Joseph Wilk
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Teen

A few things I pulled from this presentation with Cory Doctorow, Dan Roth, and Beth Givens in regards to teens is that: before we think of teens in regards to online privacy as a generation that shares everything, I think we need to think of the ways that we give our private information freely-whether it’s to obtain a card at the grocery store that tracks what we buy to giving us a ‘discount’ on items (or as Miss Zukas, the Librarian detective would say, she was overcharged) in order to gain something in return isn’t that far removed from how we might think the majority of teens share their information online. Also, my experience with teens at my library sharing their private information has been one of them asking me why they need to give out all the info. that’s asked of them when signing up for an online account for Teen Second Life.

I point to the privacy policy, which is good to know, but at the same time, they are so smart to question why and what is done with their information. For more in depth info. on the privacy discussion panel, visit the Loose Cannon Librarian’s blog post here , the Shifted Librarian’s post here or David Lee King’s blog here. Also, check out these resources that were handouts during the presentation: Privacy 2.0: Take the Survey and the Freedom to Read Foundation website. A fun element of the panel presentation, which was titled, Privacy, Is it Time for a Revolution? was that there was a photo shoot right before the presentation of people dressed up in Revolutionary War clothes. What a great idea for promoting the program! Photo courtesy of devillibrarian.

Click to play

• The evening begins with introductions of the Printz Award Committee and general comments about the Award, the selections, etc.
• Each of the winners - honor book authors and the Award winner - present a speech of about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Honor winners are presented with a certificate and the winner is presented with a Michael L. Printz statue or maybe it’s a trophy.
• Following the speeches a reception is held at which authors and attendees mingle.

You can read more about the Printz Award on the YALSA web site.

Please note that Judith Clarke’s speech was a video. The quality of the video posted here is a reflection of it being a video of a video.

A. M. Jenkins Honor Winner for Repossessed Click To Play

Stephanie Hemphill Honor Winner for Your Own Sylvia - Click to play

Elizabeth Knox Honor Winner for Dreamquake Book Two - Click to play

Judith Clarke Honor Winner for One Whole & Perfect Day - Click to play